I'd be pleased with just a WiFi update to ac. Just a silent update. The mini is pretty powerful for a $1000 computer (with SSD and 16GB).
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Likely to see an update before 2014?
- Thread starter ShaneBunting
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I doubt the next mini is based on the MacBook Air's architecture. Those machines are limited to well below 2 GHz clock speed for power reasons. As for HD5000, there aren't any Haswell i5 mobile chips with HD5000 that are above 1.7 GHz. Headless entry level rMBP is still my best guess.
If the Mac mini is a headless MacBook Air, I doubt if it would be based on the entry-level i5 Air. It seems that the dual-core i7 (1.7GHz, 4MB cache) with HD 5000 graphics in the BTO Air model would be a more likely architecture for the entry-level Mac mini.
The performance Mac mini would be a quad-core Haswell i7, maybe the 2.0GHz version with 6MB cache and Iris Pro 5200 graphics. The increase in TDP is considerable going from 2 to 4 cores.
Anyhow, it's all pure speculation.
The performance Mac mini would be a quad-core Haswell i7, maybe the 2.0GHz version with 6MB cache and Iris Pro 5200 graphics. The increase in TDP is considerable going from 2 to 4 cores.
Anyhow, it's all pure speculation.
External Power Supply
I'm still waiting for a re-issue of a MacMini with the external power supply. Mine is old, old, old, but it still works extremely well and is SILENT, i.e., no noisy fan. Those of us who have a computer in a bedroom need silent units!
I'm still waiting for a re-issue of a MacMini with the external power supply. Mine is old, old, old, but it still works extremely well and is SILENT, i.e., no noisy fan. Those of us who have a computer in a bedroom need silent units!
Is the new one noisy? I have a 2011 which has no external power supply and it is super-quiet compared to the 2006 Pro tower I have.
The PSU is not adding to the noise.
The biggest factor in noise since the 2009 models is the fan kicking in for heavy GPU or CPU use. But do you do that in your bedroom? You probably watch movies there. With the right media player that does GPU HD decoding like XBMC you will hear nothing, maybe a slight rattle from your HD.
The biggest factor in noise since the 2009 models is the fan kicking in for heavy GPU or CPU use. But do you do that in your bedroom? You probably watch movies there. With the right media player that does GPU HD decoding like XBMC you will hear nothing, maybe a slight rattle from your HD.
hmm
it's not that hard to get
not everyone wants to buy a new screen when renewing their computer
hence you have 2 possibilities: pro or mini
and the pro costs a fortune...
it's not that hard to get
not everyone wants to buy a new screen when renewing their computer
hence you have 2 possibilities: pro or mini
and the pro costs a fortune...
Decided this summer to upgrade from my mid-2010 dual core to quad core, saw that the current models were getting long in the tooth ... and innocently stepped into the Waiting For Refresh Twilight Zone. Been caught between floors ever since.
Enough of what I do is graphics based -- gaming, rendering -- for a graphics uptick to matter. But I'm also a hobbyist with a finite budget, so Mac Pro doesn't enter into the equation. And I got tired of ditching (and paying for) a perfectly good monitor every time I updated an iMac just because it was welded into the old computer, so that path's out. The Mini seems the right value point for me.
If only they'd unstick the refresh elevator stuck between floors!
Even going to the current Mini means a pretty big jump, including graphics, even if only the matter of dual-core to quad-core. So I'm not without serious temptation here. But if it doesn't come out at the same time as the Mac Pro, then that's it for this holiday season, and by next spring I'll have spent most of a year waiting for Mac Mini Godot.
Enough of what I do is graphics based -- gaming, rendering -- for a graphics uptick to matter. But I'm also a hobbyist with a finite budget, so Mac Pro doesn't enter into the equation. And I got tired of ditching (and paying for) a perfectly good monitor every time I updated an iMac just because it was welded into the old computer, so that path's out. The Mini seems the right value point for me.
If only they'd unstick the refresh elevator stuck between floors!
Even going to the current Mini means a pretty big jump, including graphics, even if only the matter of dual-core to quad-core. So I'm not without serious temptation here. But if it doesn't come out at the same time as the Mac Pro, then that's it for this holiday season, and by next spring I'll have spent most of a year waiting for Mac Mini Godot.
Next week i'm prying the doors to the elevator and getting off on the floor below! by the time the BTO is all finished and delivered it'll probably be closer to the end of November meaning that i'd have till about mid December to return it by then the MP will be out and if the mini isn't out with it. it'll be a long wait after that anyways so ..
i don't see why i would not be able to. given that other BTO specked mini's are in the refurb store
but that's a good point never the less. i'll check and report back on monday.
Cheers,
ok just checked with apple and BTO return is not problem at all, but better yet news is that if you buy now to December 25 you have until Jan 7th to return it.
So me buys next week
Any Mac Mini would not kill iMac sales, and definitely not the laptops. None of the lines as they are aligned right now cannibalize each other. They are different lines targeted at different users, and within each line, there is targeting. That's like saying the max BTO 27" iMac cannibalizes the MacPro. It doesn't.
What is missing is the prosumer version of the Mini. The MacBook Air and the MacMini are both due for redesigns because they are the only two lines that Jony hasn't gotten his hands on yet.
Think of the MacMini as the around $1000 Mac desktop because that is how Apple views it now. There will be there be a $599 version, but it will not have a dGPU. That will be the entry level one. What I'm talking about is the high version of the MacMini that will have more than enough graphics power to handle running one or two 4k displays. That's the big gaping hole in the Mac line the prosumer MacMini has to fill.
That's been filled. It is called the NEW MacPro, and it is $2999 instead of $999.
4K isn't for mini users. Minis are for document creators and basic graphics creators or audio pros (nowadays). If you want to do 4K, which is high-end tech, get a MacPro.
The Mini won't be powerful enough for decent 4K video until maybe 2016.
Haswell can support 4k displays with no problem. I think even the HD4000 can support can as well.
What it can't do that the Mac Pro can is do decent 3d at those resolutions (though the Mac Pro is still probably going to be a bit anemic if you try to game at that resolution).
But document creation? Hell yeah you want a 4k monitor. Photoshop? Yup. Video composition? yep. And a haswell + built in GPU will do those just fine, though slower than the much more expensive Mac Pro.
The average person doesn't need a $1000 Über-Mini.
The i5-4250U used in the MBA is capable of driving 4k video, and perfect for everyday tasks.
http://www.geek.com/chips/intels-haswell-nuc-does-4k-video-in-a-4-inch-box-1570688/
MacPro can handle three 4k displays. A MacMini user doesn't need three 4k displays and multiple Xeon processors. A prosumer MacMini user wants at least one 4k display, so it has to have TB2 and options for higher graphic processing.
Sounds by what others are saying here that there IS no hole in the marketing scheme. The Mac Mini can do 4K viewing.
4K editing is what I meant, but I'd still doubt the minis do anything fantastic with 4K viewing: low refresh rates and stuttering if you tax them with anything other than viewing video.
I'd love to hear from anyone with a 4K actually attached to a 2012 i5 mini.
I said this before that I would love to own a Mac Pro but it would be like having a luxury car to drive to the grocery store in, I'd feel guilty using it when I couldn't drive it to the max. Now granted, if I was editing movies all day in HD, I would love it!
The likelihood of Apple using a 1.3 GHz processor in the next mini seems very low, IMHO. The mini has never been a headless MacBook Air and I don't see it becoming one.
And yet, that's what the current Mac mini is: basically a headless MacBook Air 2012 with a faster CPU clock rate (2.5GHz i5 versus the 1.7GHz i5 in last year's notebook).
Same 3MB secondary cache, same Intel HD Graphics 4000, same 1600MHz DDR3 memory.
The likelihood of the next Mac mini being based on the MacBook Air is very high, although it may not be based on the entry-level Air model. I still think a dual-core i7 (with a faster clock, HD 5000 graphics) would be the base Mac mini, a quad-core i7 model (maybe with Iris Pro 5200 graphics) would be the premium Mac mini model.
It wouldn't have the same clock rate since the machine gets wall power, but it would be based on the same Haswell architecture.
Same 3MB secondary cache, same Intel HD Graphics 4000, same 1600MHz DDR3 memory.
The likelihood of the next Mac mini being based on the MacBook Air is very high, although it may not be based on the entry-level Air model. I still think a dual-core i7 (with a faster clock, HD 5000 graphics) would be the base Mac mini, a quad-core i7 model (maybe with Iris Pro 5200 graphics) would be the premium Mac mini model.
It wouldn't have the same clock rate since the machine gets wall power, but it would be based on the same Haswell architecture.
Apple has gone the bulky, more expensive headless MacBook Pro route for years now and sales have declined how much?
I suspect most people would welcome the change - especially if it were a quarter of its current size and cost less. Doubly so once the MBA has Intel's Broadwell chips next year. Having three times the graphics in a 4 inch box that cost less with no loss in CPU speed sounds like progress to me.
The current Mac mini is a headless mid-2012 13" MacBook Pro (base mini) and mid-2012 15" MacBook Pro without the extra GT650 GPU (quad-core mini).
I am looking at a mid 2011 model w/ 2.7Ghz i7 and the AMD HD 6630M. It has a 120GB SSD HD, 8GB RAM and I can get it for just under $500. Is that a decent deal or should I keep looking?